Hand In Hand
by Kween Of Roses
Summary: A one shot about the complications of love between a human and a shinigami. Toushirou and Karin


**I own nothing but a kick ass 13th company badge.  
And seriously, why does Karin call him Ichi-nii? I feel like I'm counting! It's even spelt with the character for 'one'. Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, nana, hachi, blah, blah, you get it right?**

* * *

"Where are you going Karin?" Ichigo questioned, standing behind his sister, looking casual as the girl was attempting to sneak out. Karin franticly shushed her bother, who continued to look unimpressed. "It's the middle of the night. Where do you think you're going?" Ichigo repeated.

"Ummmm... to fight hollows?" It came out more of a question then an answer. Ichigo's face remained impassive.

"There are none." He answered.

"Ummm you sure?" Ichigo nodded.

"Oh right! The other shinigami must have dealt with it! My original plan was to go play a game of midnight soccer, you know, because those high school kids are always in our field after school." She explained shakily.

"In those clothes?" Karin looked at her clothes, a nice pair of jeans, which she hardly wore, and a nice plain red t-shirt, with a black blazer a girl from school had lent her.

"Ummm, no?" Once again it came as a question. Ichigo sighed.

"I know where you're going Karin. I don't plan on letting you go." Karin shifted her stance slightly, she knew she couldn't beat her bother, but she could put up a fight.

"Kyaaaaa!"

Yuzu shot up in bed, startled by the sudden scream, and seen two empty beds.

"Karin? Rukia?" She seen Rukia standing at the door, she was looking out the slight crack in the door. "Rukia?" Yuzu asked quietly, rubbing her eyes.

"Shhh, Ichigo and Karin are fighting in the hall." Yuzu crept over and peered out the crack in the door.

"Let me go!" Karin growled.

"I'm not letting you go see him!" Ichigo had his sister's arms and she was fighting and struggling, kicking and screaming.

"Ichi-nii!" She screamed.

"It's a good thing dad is away this weekend." Yuzu muttered.

"We've talked about this Karin! A human and a shinigami can't have a real relationship! It won't work!" Rukia nodded sadly.

"Like you're one to talk! Look at you and Rukia!" Karin argued, kicking like a mad woman. Ichigo went silent and tightened his grip on his sister.

"I know that." He answered tonelessly, "Why do you think I'm trying so hard to stop you right now? I'm trying to save you from the pain. I know it seems fun for now, but one day, he's going to leave you. He'll have to, he can't stay here. He's not hu-"

"I don't care!" Karin cried desperately, giving up her struggle. "I love Toushirou! Nothing's going to change that!" She was really crying now, tears dripped off her nose, falling onto the carpet. "I love him." She rasped out. "I'm a big girl, I can look after myself. But if I can't be with him now, I don't think I'll ever be really happy again. Please Ichi-nii, just for now, I want to be happy."

The Kurosaki siblings stood there for a while, silent, unmoving, brother holding sister tight. Ichigo said nothing, but dropped his arms. Karin looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "Thank you Ichi-nii." Then she ran down the hall, a few moments later, the door opened, and closed. She was gone. Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his hair before returning to his room.

Rukia silently returned to her bed and rolled away from Yuzu. After the following conversation, Yuzu understood some what the pain Rukia was in. "Oyasumi." She whispered before climbing into bed as well.

Rukia cried silently, tears soaking her pillow. She didn't cry often, but when she thought about leaving, leaving Ichigo and everything here, it reduced her to tears. Hearing Ichigo talking about how she would leave, how it would be so painful, she knew it was true. One day, she would have to leave him, all alone. It hurt so much. Soon she managed to cry herself to sleep.

Karin ran through the chilly night, cold air biting at her lungs. She was still crying slightly, and brushed at her eyes.

"Damn it, I'm late." She muttered. Finally, she reached the hill, and seen a familiar silver haired boy. "Toushirou!" She yelled happily.

"Karin!" He cried turning in her direction franticly. Suddenly he was in front her, throwing his arms around her. "I was so worried. Are you alright?" Karin nodded, and wrapped her arms around him.

"Yes. I'm fine. Ichi-nii held me up. I'm sorry." Toushirou pulled her back to look her over.

"You were crying." He stated. She nodded,

"Yeah, it was an emotional exchange." Toushirou brushed away the stray tears with his thumbs.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, holding her cheek. "It's alright." She told him softly, it was a tone she rarely used, but Toushirou often was able to bring out her softer side.

"Toushirou, it's not your fault"  
"Yes it is! You're in this situation because of me." He often took the weight of everything on himself, and it hurt him.

"But I'm here because I want to be." Karin said, placing her hand over his. "I'm here because I love you. No matter what." Toushirou was about to say something more, but Karin silenced him with a soft kiss. "I know what I got myself into. I understand every painful detail, but despite that, I'm still here with you." She told him quietly, running a hand through his silver hair. Then her tone changed, it became more cheerful, "Now c'mon! I came here to have some fun." She smiled, and Toushirou grinned softly.

"Yeah." He intertwined their fingers. Despite everything, she still loved him, that was a miracle in it self. They exchanged another smile and began walking down the road, hand in hand, heart to heart, truly and undeniably in love.

-- End

**Truth is, I just discovered this pairing today. I happened be searching Beck actually and came across FluteGeek (and there's some numbers in there that I cant remember)'s, amv about these two, and I fell so in love with the pairing. After that I logged on here and found they actually have a bit if a following. I read a bunch, and got a fair good grip on the characters, because I still haven't seen the soccer episode, but this idea formed, just a vague image of a struggle in a hall, but the original concept had Karin a few years older, and in skirt .''. After fixing some major flaws, my fingers itched to type, so with no real reference material, I set out and wrote this. It was intended as a scene in a longer running story, but turned it self into a one shot. Watcha think? Please let me know. And sorry for the little IchiRuki. That's where my Bleach writing started, even though none of it's been posted.**


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